Is Genesis 2 pointing back to Eden? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
In our modern age, we often think the only way you can refer to something is to explicitly say it. For the ancients, this was not so. The book of Ecclesiastes never once refers to Eden, so the casual reader going through can understandably wonder why I think the book speaks about that subject. So, here is what I do have from my research on this topic.
So in my paper, what I say about this is:
Looking at these verses from Ecclesiastes, the pointing to Eden might not come across immediately, but Meek contends that the author fully intended it. He notes repeated phrases showing up like “to plant”, “to make”, “gardens”, “trees of every kind”, “to water”, “to sprout”, and the overall theme of a ruler creating a garden.[1] The Teacher chose of all places to go to for pleasure to use language picturing a garden and not just any garden, but the original one that was meant to be a paradise. Kim and Hoang present a contrast of God saying everything is good in the creation account and the Teacher saying everything is vanity.[2]
A difference between the two accounts is that in the Genesis account, it is God who is the creator. In the Ecclesiastes account, the Teacher focuses on himself as the one who did this. This could indicate that the Teacher had a desire to go back to Eden. After all, if any place in Israel’s history represents joy, surely Eden deserves that honor. So what all went into creating this new paradise of joy?
Also, nothing in this passage serves a necessary function to a working city. At most, one could speak of providing food with trees. Instead, this could be akin to a man today saying “I built theaters, arcades, skating rinks, parks, and museums.” All of these can benefit a city, but a city can function just fine without them also.
The imagery here is indeed pointing to Eden. This time, the author realizes that Eden has been lost and decides he is going to work to bring it back. I contend that this means he wants to create the best living scenario for human beings that he can. What if in our search for meaning, we brought back all the joys of Eden?
We could compare this to what is called the Experience Machine, an idea dreamt up by Robert Nozick. Imagine you could be hooked up to a machine and you could experience anything that you wanted in the world of the machine. Sex, power, money, fame, talent, whatever you desire. Whatever brings you the most pleasure, you can have. Should you choose the Experience Machine?
Some people say yes, but a lot say no. Even if you have what can bring you the most happiness supposedly, it still is not the real thing itself. You can have it all and still in the end, be miserable due to the Law of Diminishing Returns.
But we should let the text speak more about the pleasures of this garden. We will do that next time.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)
[1] Meek, Ecclesiastes and the Search for Meaning in an Upside-Down World, (Peabody: Massachusettes, Hendrickson Publishers, 2022), 6.
[2] Nga Thi Hong Hoang and Sung Jin Kim, “An Analysis of the -iterary Allusion in Ecclesiastes 2 to the Creation/arrative in Genesis 1-2 3hetorical 3ole of the Creation Motif in Ecclesiastes 2***, ACTS Theological Journal, (2019), 20. https://research.ebsco.com/c/trvdli/viewer/pdf/n7hbgqgy2f
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